Hippeastrum 2011

[ArnoldT]

I grow my Hippeastrum papilio a bit differently.

They summer outside all summer and endure our wet summers.  I have them in clay orchid pots with vertical slits in the sides of the pots.  I water when we don't have a good rain.  I feed with seaweed meal mixed with some dolomite limestone and gypsum.  I do take time to accustom them to bright summer sun over the course of several weeks.  I've had them get sunburned.

[Ezeiza]

Arnold, under South American conditions, papilio is dormant in summer and flowers in spring when the foliage is completely developed.

[ArnoldT]

Alberto:

Is that your summer or mine.
The plant is in full flower now.  I will eventually put it outside in full Northeast USA weather.  Watering three to four times per week.

[Ezeiza]

Arnold, it is an autumn/winter/spring grower independently of the Hemisphere. Dormant in summer without leaves.

Winter is mild with very light frosts.

If winter is not mild enough the plant will revert to a summer grower but it is interesting to know how it really grows in the wild.

[ArnoldT]

Interesting.  My plants stay green throughout the summer and into fall.  I have to force them into dormancy in September.  I put them in a cool basement and take out when the flower spike appears.  The one small bulb is now two flowering size bulbs and a number of offsets.  I probably picked it up at a PBS BX distribution.

Regards

[Paul T]

Arnold,

My papillio still have a full complement of leaves at present (height of summer), although they aren't looking exactly brilliant.  Even with our level of frost, mine keeps some of it's leaves in winter.  I think normally there aren't as many leaves as this year (we've had a mild summer mostly, except for the last few weeks), but it is definitely a predominantly autumn and spring grower for me.  I've had it flower a couple of springs, but not the last couple.  I think it has ended up too shaded where shrubs have now grown up.  I am guessing it is time to move some offsets into a more sunny position and see how they go.    I would like it to recommence flowering as I just love the flowers.

[jshields]

I have grown my papilio as spring-summer-fall growers with enforced dormancy in winter.  They survive, but I must admit that they bloom only occasionally.  I've seen papilio grown outdoors year-round in Stellenbosch (winter-rainfall area, South Africa) and in central Florida south of Orlando (USA).  They all looked bigger and healthier than mine do.  Mine live year-round inside the Clivia greenhouse.

Most of my spring Hippeastrum species blooms are already past for this spring.  Still going are lots of punicum that look like they might be hybrids with something else.

Jim

[santo2010]

Hippeastrum Aulicum.

[ArnoldT]

Hippeastrum.

A red   of unknown heritage.

[jshields]

I grow my Hippeastrum papilio a bit differently.

They summer outside all summer and endure our wet summers.  I have them in clay orchid pots with vertical slits in the sides of the pots.  I water when we don't have a good rain.  I feed with seaweed meal mixed with some dolomite limestone and gypsum.  I do take time to accustom them to bright summer sun over the course of several weeks.  I've had them get sunburned.

Arnold, I have had bad luck over the years growing Hippeastrum outdoors.  Too many of them have caught plant viruses after a summer out in the open, so now I keep them inside a greenhouse year-round.  My crinums and nerines spend their summers outdoors, and if they get viruses they don't seem to show it. It may be that, after 30+ years growing bulbs here, my place has a resident infection with plant viruses that other places won't necessarily have.

I agree that Hippeastrum can take a lot of water during their growing season.  When I did grow some of them outdoors in summer they were in a lath house with overhead sprinkling system that watered automatically 2 or 3 times per week (rain or shine -- not a sophisticated control system).

Jim

[Ezeiza]

Jim, difficult to give advice to an expert, but I would stop nitrogen in any form so mosaic shows up in the foliage and the "culprits" can be sorted out.

[JoshY46013]

An Unknown Hippeastrum Collected In Quillabamba, Peru


Hippeastrum sp. Coll. Quillabamba, Peru by JoshY46013, on Flickr


Hippeastrum sp. Coll. Quillabamba, Peru by JoshY46013, on Flickr

[santo2010]

A Beautiful red tone Josh!

[santo2010]

Strange pics may not be liked by everyone. I want to share one.
Here is a painting looking pic. It was taken at twilight without flash. It is a Hummingbird in the H. Aulicum.

[PeterT]

An  amazing picture